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A review by hareems
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
3.5/5 rounded down (I don't think I can really give this a 4 star rating)
This is a decent book and definitely hits the spot if you're looking for a dark academia with gothic fantasy elements. And it certainly isn't without its merits, like the sea motif throughout the book which was well-weaved within the larger narrative, or Angharad which is heart rendering despite its predictability. And despite its predictability, it still kept me engaged.
But I still found many things that bothered me. For one, Effy is insufferable for the first 100 pages. I tried to sympathize with her because I imagine the author wrote her that way to account for her trauma, but her actions (mainly toward Preston) came across as bratty. Her behaviour toward Preston was SO annoying in the first third of the book. She's projecting and it's either just not written well (I can't recall anything else I've read to compare it to) or I may just find it annoying always.
I also didn't understand why Preston liked her so much so early on besides for her being beautiful, which the author makes it seem like Preston is "above". It made no sense. She was mean and taunted him constantly but somehow he was obsessed with her enough to be writing her name in the margins of his notes?? No. I do appreciate how their dynamic evolved and their romance was definitely believable (minus the climax because I genuinely do not believe anyone could think of love in the middle of life threatening natural disaster), but the start of it wasn't very good.
I also hated with a deep passion how excessively the author used metaphors. I felt like I was reading one of my own school papers where we had to use metaphors for marks. I understand wanting to create a certain ambience, but many times the CONSTANT INCESSANT metaphors used to describe literally every little detail took me out of the story. It was arduous to read at some points because of how annoying those metaphors became.
Also I think the fantasy elements weren't done super well. I can forgive that mostly because I don't think this story really relies on the fantasy as much as it does on the characters. It's a character driven story with a relevant fantasy backdrop. BUT I am a fantasy fan and that's why I picked this up, so better fantasy would've helped.
Also the plot holes. As with all stories, this one has its own share, though not glaring and certainly not enough to make it hard to suspend disbelief (the metaphors were enough to do that) but it did make me occasionally glare at the book in frustration. Like the part where it's so obvious reading the letters, where the story is going, but somehow neither Effy nor Preston (both of whom are presented to be very intelligent) pick up on this. I forgive this again because their world is centered around Angharad being a character so it's slightly unfathomable for them to figure out the truth if it doesn't hit them in the face.
It certainly didn't satisfy my gothic fantasy appetite because it wasn't nearly unsettling enough even though we did have our big "haunted" manor, which is my favourite gothic trope. BUT this is still a good read. The characters (minus early stages Effy) are all wonderful, and I LOVE Preston despite his seemingly shallow initial interest in Effy. I also loved their banter, that's always a plus.
I'm a big fan of good conclusions and almost always will give points for that and I almost made this a 3.75 read because of the conclusion, but I found in the end that it was too easily predictable and neat and although slightly interesting it just wasn't hard hitting enough to be memorable for me. I still appreciate it though and I appreciate justice being served. Plus again, 3.75 is inevitably rounded up to 4 and I just don't think this book deserves a 4 star rating.
This is a decent book and definitely hits the spot if you're looking for a dark academia with gothic fantasy elements. And it certainly isn't without its merits, like the sea motif throughout the book which was well-weaved within the larger narrative, or Angharad which is heart rendering despite its predictability. And despite its predictability, it still kept me engaged.
But I still found many things that bothered me. For one, Effy is insufferable for the first 100 pages. I tried to sympathize with her because I imagine the author wrote her that way to account for her trauma, but her actions (mainly toward Preston) came across as bratty. Her behaviour toward Preston was SO annoying in the first third of the book. She's projecting and it's either just not written well (I can't recall anything else I've read to compare it to) or I may just find it annoying always.
I also didn't understand why Preston liked her so much so early on besides for her being beautiful, which the author makes it seem like Preston is "above". It made no sense. She was mean and taunted him constantly but somehow he was obsessed with her enough to be writing her name in the margins of his notes?? No. I do appreciate how their dynamic evolved and their romance was definitely believable (minus the climax because I genuinely do not believe anyone could think of love in the middle of life threatening natural disaster), but the start of it wasn't very good.
I also hated with a deep passion how excessively the author used metaphors. I felt like I was reading one of my own school papers where we had to use metaphors for marks. I understand wanting to create a certain ambience, but many times the CONSTANT INCESSANT metaphors used to describe literally every little detail took me out of the story. It was arduous to read at some points because of how annoying those metaphors became.
Also I think the fantasy elements weren't done super well. I can forgive that mostly because I don't think this story really relies on the fantasy as much as it does on the characters. It's a character driven story with a relevant fantasy backdrop. BUT I am a fantasy fan and that's why I picked this up, so better fantasy would've helped.
Also the plot holes. As with all stories, this one has its own share, though not glaring and certainly not enough to make it hard to suspend disbelief (the metaphors were enough to do that) but it did make me occasionally glare at the book in frustration. Like the part where it's so obvious reading the letters, where the story is going, but somehow neither Effy nor Preston (both of whom are presented to be very intelligent) pick up on this. I forgive this again because their world is centered around Angharad being a character so it's slightly unfathomable for them to figure out the truth if it doesn't hit them in the face.
It certainly didn't satisfy my gothic fantasy appetite because it wasn't nearly unsettling enough even though we did have our big "haunted" manor, which is my favourite gothic trope. BUT this is still a good read. The characters (minus early stages Effy) are all wonderful, and I LOVE Preston despite his seemingly shallow initial interest in Effy. I also loved their banter, that's always a plus.
I'm a big fan of good conclusions and almost always will give points for that and I almost made this a 3.75 read because of the conclusion, but I found in the end that it was too easily predictable and neat and although slightly interesting it just wasn't hard hitting enough to be memorable for me. I still appreciate it though and I appreciate justice being served. Plus again, 3.75 is inevitably rounded up to 4 and I just don't think this book deserves a 4 star rating.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Sexual assault